I love fajitas, I find them so practical and they are good whether you decide to use chicken, mince or opt for the veggie option. What I find always makes a good wrap are some fried/ roasted peppers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and grated cheese – I’d say those are always my staple ingredients in a fajita. I love crispy chicken and as I walked past KFC the other day it made me really want a chicken fajita! So I decided to try and make it at home. Once you have made you crispy chicken breast then it’s super easy and you can also make your own breadcrumbs. Slice you chicken and add your other ingredients to the wrap. Otherwise you can make a simple and delicious wrap that’s great when you’ve got a few friends round.

When I make fajitas with normal chicken chunks or mince I fry the onion first then add the meat and spices and a few minutes before it’s ready add the peppers. These spices are also very similar to the ready-made fajita kits you get but are much healthier!

Put the wraps on a plate covered with tin foil and place in a low heated oven for 5 minutes before serving.

In seperate bowls put the meat, the tomatoes, sour cream,, cheese & lettuce leaves. Place wraps and bowls on table and start filling the wraps with your favourite ingredients.

Are you suffering from a terrible cold?! If so I have the perfect concoction that I make when I’m bunged up and feeling ill. Bear with me, I know it sounds a little unusual BUT I promise it actually tastes ok.

What you will need:Half an onion or 1 small onion chopped in quarters
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
Half a lemon and it’s juice
3 to 4 cloves
About a thumb’s worth of chopped ginger
1-2 tbsp honey
2 mugs of water

Beat the cold

In a pan add all the ingredients except the honey and bring to a boil. Drain the water into a mug and add the honey. Drink and hopefully you’ll feel better!

Get well!

The benefits of the ingredients:
Onions have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant propertiesGarlic has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal propertiesCloves have many properties some of them being antioxidant, antiseptic, local anaesthetic and anti-inflammatory (great for those sore throats).Ginger is an antioxidant and has direct anti-inflammatory effectsLemon has many properties, some of which are antibacterial, antiviral, and immune-boosting
Honey antioxidant, soothes and makes the whole drink taste that much better 😉

Violet infusionIf you have a bad cough or cold an infusion of dried violets can also help as they have antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic properties.

On Friday evening I went to Greensmith’s where there’s a great butcher. They have really good meat and it’s not over-priced. I decided to get some lamb shank and on Saturday we hade a nice roast. This is usually cooked with red wine but we didn’t have any, so I improvised. This is what I love about cooking, trying out new things, not knowing if it’ll work and when it does feeling proud of my new creation. Now I’m not saying my strange mixture is better than using red wine but it sure is a cheaper version and tastes pretty good.

Heat your oven to 200C
Cut you garlic in two and make holes in the lamb and put your garlic in the holes. Do the same with some rosemary twigs (2 per lamb shank). With some string tie your herbs together – to make a bouquet garni – they will be easier to remove.

I used a normal cooking pot but if you can use anything with a lid that can go in the oven. Put the pot on the hob and add the olive oil, then add the lamb and brown every side. Then add the onions until they start to brown.

Lamb shank

Reduce the heat and add the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, beef stock and bouquet garni. Keep on the hob until the liquid boils, making sure everything is mixed well. Remove from the hob and cover with the lid and place in the oven for 2 hours (if they are large 2h30m). Check the meat half way through.

Remove your pot from the oven and remove your bouquet garni and the rosemary from the lamb. If you want your sauce to be nice and clear (a little messy) you can use a colander to drain the sauce through into a bowl, then pick out and bits of herbs then add the onions to your sauce.

We had yummy cheesy mashed potatoes with this. It all went down a treat and was really easy to make.

Place you lamb shank on some mashed potatoes and pour the sauce over it. Very yummy!

Simply chop the vegetables into big chunks and place on a baking sheet.
Generously drizzle olive oil over all of your vegetables. Sprinkle Salt and Pepper as well.
Roast for about 40 minutes. I would start checking on them after 30 minutes.

Roasted Vegetables

Discard any burnt areas and throw them in a blender with about a 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
Blend and add a 1/4 cup of Marscapone Cheese.

This is when you decide on what consistency you want. Add more chicken broth if necessary.

After a busy Christmas season and getting settled into my new flat I finally got the time to do a proper bit of cooking this weekend. Making bread is a little messy but every time I make it I ask myself why I ever bother to buy it as it’s so easy to make, tastes great and there is a strangely satisfying feeling of seeing it rise.

One of the beauties of making your own bread is that you can put whatever you want in it. From cheese, olives, seeds to lardons.

What you need:7g of yeast
Pinch of sugar
300ml warm water
500g of flour

Add your yeast, warm water and sugar in a bowl and leave for 10 minutes.

In a pan fry the onions until they are golden.

For the dough, in a bowl add the flour and make a little well. In the well add the yeast mixture, onions, olives, rosemary, salt and pepper. Gradually incorporate the flour into the well and mix until it becomes dough. Add more water or flour as necessary (the dough should not be sticky but elastic).

Place the dough on a clean floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Place the dough into a large bowl and cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 2 hours in a warm place. After the two hours knead for about a minute and shape into a flattish round shape. Place the dough on a greased baking sheet/ tray. With a knife make criss-cross cuts into the top of the dough and cover the dough for another 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 220C. Dust the top of the dough with a little flour and place the dough in the oven for 10 minutes. Then lower the heat to 200C and continue cooking 20 minutes. The loaf should sound hollow and have a golden crust.

You can eat it warm or cold. I had some for my breakfast with some smoked salmon, yum!

I remember my mum making pumpkin soup in the pumpkin itself when I was younger. So when I went to Alexis’ in Belgium and saw that his parents had pumpkins growing in their garden I took one straight back with us to London and gave it a try.

Now I have to be honest with you and say that I fell asleep in front of the tv whilst it was in the oven so I’m not sure how long it should be in the oven. Mine was over-cooked as it was in there for too long, that is for 2h30mins so it probably should be in the oven for 1h30. Though check it throughout cooking time as it will also depend on the size of your pumpkin.

Heat your oven to 200C. Cut the top of the pumpkin off and empty its seeds. With a spoon scrape out some of the pumpkin and put in a bowl. Slice your onions, garlic and fry in a pan until slightly golden and then add the pumpkin, continue to cook for a few minutes. In the pumkin add a bit of the onion mixture, add a bit of cream, herbs and a slice of bread and continue layering. You can add sliced bacon or anything else you want in your soup. At the end add about half a glass of water. Put the top back onto the pumpkin. Put the pumkin in a round cake tray as this will help it keep it structure. Place the pumpkin in the oven for 1 to 1 and a half hour . You can pick the top with a knife when it goes through the pumkin is cooked.

I bought a whole bag of onions for £1 at my local shop and so thought I’d make some onion soup. It’s super simple, the hardest bit is trying not to cry when cutting all those onions.

What you will need:

6 onions (sliced)
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 litre of home-made stock (any kind) or stock cube / or make sure it covers all the onions and then a bit more
A glass of red or white wine (optional)
Tablespoon of butter
Slices of toasted baguette
Grated emmenthal or cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

There are different stages to this soup and those are the key. I have a pressure cooker, it’s found in most French kitchen’s and is a great way to fast cook soups, stews and you can also steam vegetables. If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can use a casserole.

On a medium heat, in the pot add the butter, once hot add to it all the onions and garlic. You need the onions to soften and golden, this will give a lot of the flavour to your soup. Then you can add your stock, wine and salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and leave for 20 minutes if in a pressure cooker or 45 minutes in a casserole.

Whilst you soup is simmering turn your oven on to 180C. Then toast your baguette slices. Once your soup is cooked add at least half your soup in an oven dish, place the toast to cover the entire dish and sprinkle cheese on top (put as much or as little as you wish, I put loads). Place in the oven for 20 minutes. You can put all your soup in the oven dish but as the bread soaks up so much of the liquid I like keeping the other half to add later. So a few minutes before taking the dish out of the oven reheat the remaining of the soup that’s in the pot.

Remove oven dish and serve in a bowl, add to it some of the soup from the pot.

In a sandwich bag (or bowl) add your chicken, thinly sliced onions and the ingredients (except the oil). This is a bit messy but get your hand in the bag and make sure all the ingredients are mixed together. Close up your sandwich bag (better to place the bag in a bowl) and leave it in the fridge for 20mins – though the longer the better. Preheat your oven to 200C.

Empty all the contents of the bag in an oven dish and pour a little oil over the chicken making sure the onions are covered in oil (you really don’t need to use much). Put the chicken in the oven and after 15mins check that the onions aren’t burning. If they are starting to, stir them a little and leave to cook for a further 15mins.

I had a big salad with the chicken, but there was some left so I brought it to work for my lunch club. Claire had some left-over pasta and they went perfectly together.

For Sarah’s chicken, she lets it marinate for 24 hours (I think) and fries the thighs in oil. Either way is yummy.

Most people think I am nuts when I say that I really do not care for pasta, but it’s true. If I am going to mix a protein or vegetable with something, I prefer rice. However, if I’m cooking without meat but want more protein in my meal, I will use Quinoa instead. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make and has 8 grams of protein per cup! It also has 5 grams of fiber. The thing with Quinoa is that once it is cooked, you have to add something to it or it can be dry. Below is my go-to recipe when I need to use up some vegetables or just want to cook something meat free.

Once you have cooked your quinoa, add a little olive oil right away and give it a good stir. Then add your favorite spaghetti sauce. Add however much you want. If you add too little, the quinoa will seem dry.

Then, saute your veggies in the order listed above. The last thing you want to add is your fresh herb or herbs. Combine your veggies with your Quinoa and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

If you have time and want to to add another layer of flavor, you can saute your onion, add the garlic and then add your mushrooms. Let these veggies cook for a few minutes and then add a splash of red or white wine. You will need to let these cook down which will take about 5 minutes. Then you can add your bell pepper and tomato. You can substitute zucchini or asparagus for any of the veggies listed.